Okta will host a virtual webinar on August 6, 2026, at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET, focused on helping higher education institutions adopt and scale agentic AI without compromising security. The session arrives as universities struggle with the unchecked spread of shadow AI-AI tools used by faculty, staff, and students outside IT oversight-and the identity risks that come with decentralized technology adoption.
The growing challenge of shadow AI on campus
Campuses are increasingly deploying AI across departments with little coordination. This creates blind spots for security teams. The webinar will outline practical frameworks for managing decentralized risk, mapping unauthorized AI use, and measuring return on investment. Attendees will learn how to govern access to AI applications and enforce identity standards without slowing down innovation.
The presenters will address complex identity challenges that arise when AI agents interact with sensitive student data, research systems, and administrative networks. Okta's approach ties identity management directly to AI governance, a model that is gaining traction in AI for Education planning.
What the webinar will cover
The event includes a live demo of Okta's security frameworks for AI identities and access management, along with a look at the company's AI product roadmap. Specific topics include:
- Securing AI applications and agents in a campus environment
- Reducing risk from unmanaged AI tools
- Identity strategies that support AI adoption and show measurable ROI
- Best practices for governance and access management
- Emerging AI security trends in higher education
Morgan Reed, Okta's Field Chief Technology Officer, will set the stage with an analysis of the AI security landscape in education. Reed works with public sector leaders to modernize identity systems while strengthening cybersecurity. Skylar Barnes, a Senior Solutions Engineer with over seven years of experience in higher education, will join him. Barnes specializes in model training, local inference, and securing complex AI workflows using modern identity standards.
Why this matters for education professionals
For IT and security leaders in education, the webinar offers a concrete way to address unmanaged AI use that is already happening on their networks. The session provides a framework for balancing security and innovation-a pressing need as students and faculty bring more AI tools into classrooms, labs, and administrative processes. Registration is limited, and the session includes a Q&A for institutions to ask scenario-specific questions.
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